Routine Quarantine Helps Astronauts Avoid Illness Before Launch

European Space Agency astronaut Hans Schlegel, on right (with astronaut Rex Walheim) experienced space sickness during the STS-122 flight in February 2008.

Credit: NASA

While no one wants to get swine flu, it would be
particularly disastrous for the astronauts preparing to ride the space shuttle
Atlantis on May 11 for their mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.

So far, there's no indication that any astronauts have been exposed to
swine flu, and NASA has not made any changes to operations because of the
current situation, officials said.

But astronauts can get sick in space. In fact, microgravity
appears to weaken
the immune system, so NASA is careful to reduce the chances of spaceflyers
catching nasty bugs before they lift off.

"NASA is cautious about exposing the crew to any and
all viruses and bacteria in the preflight phase, whether that be swine flu or
the common cold," said NASA spokesman Bill Jeffs. "NASA does not have
to alter their current posture, because their current posture is already very
conservative, as even a routine adenovirus [cause of the common cold] can be
problematic on a space mission."

Quarantine as usual

The seven members of Atlantis's
STS-125 crew are due to enter quarantine in less than a week to avoid
catching any kind of sickness before their flight. This precaution is taken just
before every mission, since the consequences of an astronaut getting sick are
serious.

"Even a common cold can have a mission impact if a
crewmember is not able to clear their ears due to congestion, especially with
the changes in pressure that are required for a spacewalk," Jeffs told SPACE.com.

Astronauts usually undergo a physical exam called the
"L-10" 10 days before launch. This exam includes swabs and other lab
tests to make sure they're not already infected. After this time, NASA limits astronaut
contact with other people, and formal quarantine starts at about seven days
before launch.

Once the crew arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in
Cape Canaveral, Fla., where shuttles lift off, the quarantine is strict, and
the crew surgeon is isolated with the crew. The astronauts undergo a second
exam two days prior to launch, and are given a brief medical check just before
they suit up on launch day. Anyone on the ground who is sick or exhibits any
signs of illness is prohibited from working with the crew.

Not foolproof

Even with such vigilance, astronauts have gotten sick during
past missions. Wally Schirra came down with a cold in the middle of the 1968 Apollo 7 mission. Though nothing
too serious resulted, Schirra did reportedly get irritable with Mission
Control's requests and felt tired during the mission.

During 1968's Apollo 8 — the first manned mission to
fly around the moon — astronaut Frank Borman suffered what may have been
a bad reaction to a sleeping tablet. He discovered that vomit and diarrhea are
not easy to clean up in the weightlessness of space.

In retrospect, some experts think Borman simply had space
adaptation syndrome, or space sickness, which affects about a third of
astronauts as their bodies try to adjust to microgravity.

German astronaut
Hans Schlegel likely had a bad bout of space sickness that forced him to
opt out of a scheduled spacewalk during the February 2008 shuttle mission.

And
sometimes the atmosphere of the spacecraft can sicken astronauts. In 1999,
high carbon dioxide levelsin the Zarya module on the International Space
Station might have been what made some space shuttle Discovery astronauts ill
with headaches and nausea. The condition wasn't serious, though, and improved
when the astronauts returned to Discovery.

Editor's Note: Atlantis is the shuttle flying to Hubble, not Discovery, as this story originally stated.

Clara has been SPACE.com's Assistant Managing Editor since 2011, and has been writing for SPACE.com and LiveScience since 2008. Clara has a bachelor's degree in astronomy and physics from Wesleyan University, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what her latest project is, you can follow Clara on Google+.